Who is going to win the 2018 World Championship?

[JimMalone]

Thank you Ordl and JimMalone, excellent posts.

Selby has shown very good form recently and seems to improving heading into the World Championships. While Allen and others in his quarter might challenge him I feel he will get through the quarter and make the semi finals

Higgins or Trump in the second quarter seems to the be main question and I think if Higgins gets to play Trump he will beat him. I expect Higgins to get there, although Bingham or Lisowski could be problematic if he is not at his best.
So the first semifinal a replay of the final from last year with Selby and Higgins

The third quarter should be Ding's with Fu having problems and Hawkins not having a great season either. I would not entirely rule out Fu playing well but it seems unlikely. So picking Ding here.

The fourth quarter should be O'Sullivan's based on his quality, form and the other players in the quarter. Williams or Robertson could be competitive in the quarter final but I doubt they are going to win.

So Ding - O'Sullivan in the other semi-final is my pick.

I think the best finals in terms of match ups are
Selby - O'Sullivan - the ultimate final as far as quality goes and a clash of styles.
Higgins - O'Sullivan - two of the greats proving how great they are by still being the best in their 40s
Selby - Ding - the best player in the world against the best player to not be world champion
Higgins - Ding

After that if Selby or O'Sullivan make the final I feel the anyone else against them would be disappointing. Perhaps Trump, Williams, Robertson or Fu would be the next best options.

I would be all for a Ding - Selby final again. Also Ding - Higgins would be great. Generally I'd love to see Ding finally lifting the trophy.

[Odrl]

Thanks to everyone for voting, and thanks for the detailed post, JimMalone. :smile:

The result are about what I expected, except maybe for Murphy receiving no votes at all. I guess most people are expecting his injury to hamper him to the point where he can't really play his best stuff... We'll see I suppose, but it really would be a shame for him after such a good season. :smile:

[Stony152]

I'll be quite surprised if Selby doesn't win again.

The jinx is working so far.

[JimMalone]

The jinx is working so far.

Yeah, I hope my jinx on O'Sullivan will work as well :smile:

[Porter]

Excellent, well written article Grand Lover of Snooker! Thanks for taking the time to write it. Just to add my two cents and obviously I'm late here since tomorrow is already Day Three, however in the Event-Prediction contest I had Selby going out the first round. That being said I think the final will be between Ronnie and Kiran. My reasoning for this is ..in my mind I thought if Ronnie made it past Stephen Maguire (who did give him a run for his money) then I think he has a real shot of progressing through each round and ending up in the final. His attitude this year has gotten him five titles, plus he has the talent and experience to go with that attitude. My reasons for picking Kiran to be in the final as well is ... watching him play this season and seeing the fight and determination he has in him - I think he might want this win just about more than anyone else, even though there are a few others that want it badly too. So Ronnie and Kiran in the final, with Ronnie winning.

[bagpiper13579]

Thanks to everyone for voting, and thanks for the detailed post, JimMalone. :smile:

The result are about what I expected, except maybe for Murphy receiving no votes at all. I guess most people are expecting his injury to hamper him to the point where he can't really play his best stuff... We'll see I suppose, but it really would be a shame for him after such a good season. :smile:

I don't actually think Shaun Murphy, injured or otherwise, is a disciplined enough player to win the World Championship right now. His cue ball control, as I've said before, is awful at times. He relies almost exclusively on his natural talent and form. He is too easily contained by other players when he isn't at his absolute best. He makes too many problems for himself over longer matches.